It’s been more than eight months since two men were found shot in the street in Central Fresno. One died and the other is waiting to find out if he’ll stand trial. Friday, Montray Skinner appeared in court for the second day of his preliminary hearing.
Skinner is charged in the death of Nathaniel Casteneda on May 11, 2023, but the first 15 minutes of the preliminary hearing were spent discussing the witness expected to take the stand Friday morning and what she could or could not be questioned about and what protections she may have for her testimony.
Action News cannot show civilian witnesses’ faces in the case.
The witness, Sylvia Zavala, has open cases against her and the defense had tried to question her about events months before the shooting. The judge ultimately ruled the witness could not be questioned about incidents other than the night of May 11th and that she would have to answer questions about the night of the shooting, including her drug use at the time.
Zavala is the sister-in-law of Casteneda and was said to be with him and her boyfriend at the time. She said she was under the influence of meth and wearing a motorcycle helmet when the shooting happened limiting her awareness of what was happening. However, she said she was able to clearly hear threats made by Skinner towards their group and that is when she said she grabbed a gun and gave it to Casteneda.